Priya displayed an inclination towards art and culture from her childhood as her father was the eminent popular writer Vijay Tendulkar.

Her first appearance was as a doll in a stage play called Haya Vadan (1969) along with Kalpana Lajmi. Later she shuffled between different jobs as a hotel service receptionist in a 5 star hotel, an air hostess, and a part-time model,and also she was also a news reader.

Her debut film appearance was in Shyam Benegal's Ankur (1974)where she played Anant Nag's submissive wife. Thereafter she switched her interest towards Marathi films and played stellar roles in nearly a dozen Marathi family socials, opposite actors like Ashok Saraf, Ravindra Mahajani and Mahesh Kothare. She also appears opposite to Anant Nag in the Kannada movie Minchina Ota, in an important role.

She rose to national fame with her TV series Rajani (1985) where she played a housewife who can't stand any injustice and solves public social issues. Her portrayal of Rajani made her a household name all over India. Later she played another feminist role in Vijay Tendulkar 's TV series, Swayamsiddha.

Priya led a freestyle life wherein she spoke about social issues openly without fear and always expressed her feelings without a bias or prejudice.^{[citation needed]} This side of her fiery personality reflected in her talk shows like Priya Tendulkar Talk Show and Zimmedar Kaun.

She also played an important role as actress in Gujarati movie named "pooja na phool" which was very popular movie of the time.

Priya aka 'Rajni', died following a heart attack on 19 September 2002 at her Prabhadevi residence after a long battle with breast cancer

Television Series

• Rajani as Rajani.
• Hum Paanch
• Itihaas as Sunita Khanna.
• Damini as Mrunalini Ranganekar ( Social Worker ).
• Asmita as Asmita.
• Professor Pyarelal as Sajni pyarelal chautrvedi.

She married her Rajani co-star, Karan Razdan, in 1988 but separated from him in 1995 due to adultery.^{[citation needed]}